


Last Young Renegade

by one_more_offbeat_anthem



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Songfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-04
Updated: 2020-08-04
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:35:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,199
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25714411
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/one_more_offbeat_anthem/pseuds/one_more_offbeat_anthem
Summary: Yes, this is a songfic. Yes, I’m aware that it’s no longer 2013. But old habits die hard, you know? Anyways. The song is Last Young Renegade by All Time Low (hence the title). A sorta-AU of when Kylo Ren tells Rey she’s a Palpatine and offers her hand—with a twist :) forgive me for being trash.
Relationships: Kylo Ren/Rey, Rey & Ben Solo, Rey & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14





	Last Young Renegade

_Just a couple kids on a summer street_

_Chasing around to a flicker beat_

_Making mistakes that were made for us_

_We brushed them off like paper cuts_

“She’s in my quarters! Lock down the ship!” Kylo Ren shouted at his stormtroopers. He shook his head and shuddered at the wind on Kijimi. Even with his cloak, it wasn’t the warmest of places.

He couldn’t believe that she had managed to get into his ship without him noticing—and, furthermore, that she had gotten into his room. Seeing the shards of his grandfather’s helmet spew out of their lightsaber battle sobered him. It was an already crumbling relic, and now it was gone, beyond repair.

_You said you're sick and tired of it, it_

_But I need you morning, night, and day_

_I miss you every single way-ay-ay_

_We said forever but forever wouldn't wait for us_

He wondered if maybe, now that he had seen where she was, Rey would have left the ship. Surely she came here somehow, right? It must have been with some of her Resistance friends, Poe Dameron and Finn, who he had seen with her on Pasaana.

Part of him had felt vindictive pleasure at forcing her to show her powers there, destroying that ship, but the other part of him felt..…confused. After his “victory,” all he had were the Knights of Ren, who were, admittedly, not particularly talkative. But Rey, she had Finn and Poe to fall back on and comfort her. That was surely why they had gone to his ship—a rescue mission of sorts. Well, it would be cut short.

_You were my last young renegade heartache  
It only took one night_

_Caught in the eye of a hurricane, darling  
We had to say goodbye_

As it turned out, she wasn’t too hard to find—because she was standing in the hanger, looking around as if something was missing—her ship, probably. When she caught sight of him, her expression steeled.

“I know who you are,” he said, walking towards her through the crowd of stormtroopers.

“You’re lying to me,” she replied, gritting her teeth.

“No. You parents were nobody—because they chose to be, to protect you. Don’t you wonder where your power comes from? You have his power—because you’re his granddaughter. You’re a Palpatine.”

_Underneath the lights of a motorway_

_That's where I go to keep your ghost away_

_We used to be such a burning flame_

_Now we're just smoke in the summer rain_

The energy in the room is palpable. Although the stormtroopers can say nothing, he knows that the name carries weight with them—as does the prospect of the last Jedi having her powers from the blood of the great Sith emperor.

At the back of his mind, though, Kylo knows of the horrors that his grandfather experienced because of Palpatine’s seduction….loss of his wife, his children, his master. But it’s not like Kylo has any of those left. He can’t go back to his mother, he killed his father, his uncle is dead now.

_You said you're sick and tired of it, it_

_But I need you morning, night, and day_

_I miss you every single way-ay-ay_

_We said forever but forever wouldn't wait for us_

“But I know something he doesn’t,” he continues, looking into her eyes, “We’re a dyad in the Force, two that are one. We can defeat him together and take the throne.”

“Don’t do this,” she says, and he sees the same heartbreak he saw in the throne room after he killed Snoke—she thought he would help her, but he was just going to let her down. He was going to do that now, too. It seemed to be the only thing he was good at.

_You were my last young renegade heartache  
It only took one night_

_Caught in the eye of a hurricane, darling  
We had to say goodbye_

_I want to know that you're somewhere out there  
Somewhere down this road_

_You were my last young renegade heartache  
How could I let you, how could I let you go?_

“What else can I do?” He asks, “I’m Supreme Leader Kylo Ren. It’s what I do.”

“That’s not who you really are, is it?” She swallows, “Maybe I’m a Palpatine by blood, but I will never truly be a Palpatine, because I stand with the Resistance and the Jedi. And you will never _truly_ be Supreme Leader, will you? Because you’ve never really been Kylo Ren, have you?”

“I have done unspeakable things as Kylo Ren.”

“But you’ve never been able to fully embrace the dark side, have you?” It almost sounds like Rey is taunting him—but then again, she knows how to cut to the bone. “You could have killed me dozens of times—you could kill me now. You _should_ kill me now. But you don’t want to—because you don’t want to work for Palpatine.”

“What are you saying?” Kylo asks her.

_You were the best thing that ever happened to me_

_And I'll keep on fighting just to make you believe_

“Come with us, Ben. Join the Resistance. We can still defeat Palpatine—but in the name of love, not hate. You kill him now, he lives with you forever—just like your father.”

Kylo looks around at the stormtroopers. They’ll do what he orders, won’t they? He knows that if he leaves, Pryde and Hux will continue doing the First Order’s work and following Palpatine’s bidding. But they won’t have the Force, will they?

“Come with us,” she whispers. Behind her, the Falcon comes into view. The hatch opens—he sees Finn standing on it.

“Rey!” Finn shouts, waving his arm.

“You know what you have to do,” she says, holding out her hand to him—it’s a change of pace from him offering the dark side to her. She’s offering a lifeline. Will he take it?

_You were my last young renegade heartache  
It only took one night_

_Caught in the eye of a hurricane, darling  
We had to say goodbye_

_I want to know that you're somewhere out there  
Somewhere down this road_

As if it’s an instinct or a reflex, he crosses the remainder of the hanger floor and takes her hand. Rey looks down at his hand, clasping hers, and then looks back up, her eyes full of wonder.

“I’ll-I’ll come with you,” he says, his voice cracking.

Not giving him a chance to change his mind, she turns and pulls him out of the hanger, jumping into space and using the force to roll into the hatch of the Falcon. Finn catches her other hand and pulls her in.

They tumble in a heap into the Falcon as the door shuts and the ship—presumably piloted by Poe—zooms away from the First Order.

“Why,” Finn asks, his voice indignant, “Do you have Kylo Ren with you?!”

He awkwardly scrambles to his feet, ditching his cape as he does, “Uh, call me Ben.”

_You were my last young renegade heartache_   
_How could I let you, how could I let you_   
_Don't want to let you, I'll never let you go_


End file.
